American globalization and hippie modernism at Earth Day in 1970: perspectives on the green agendas of Rauschenberg and Sonfist

초록

Initially dubbed the ‘National Teach-In on the Crisis of the Environment,’ Earth Day has received scant discussion in the wider history of art. Conventionally, this United States-based but globally impactful event that took place for a week in late April of 1970 is historicized as a blip in relation to artist participation. By revisiting Earth Day art made by artists Alan Sonfist and Robert Rauschenberg whose work was displayed in New York City in 1970, we classify their work as part of materials, exchanges and movements that belong to a globally inspired ‘hippie modernism’ [Blauvelt, Andrew, and Ross Elfline, eds. 2015. Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center]. Such work circulating at Earth Day alludes to optimizing individual moral conduct towards the environment but also severs it from ‘questions of power’ [Dunaway, Finis. 2008. “Gas Masks, Pogo, and the Ecological Indian: Earth Day and the Visual Politics of American Environmentalism.” American Quarterly 60 (1): 67–99], ‘global modernity’ [Dirlik, Arif. 2006. Global Modernity: Modernity in the Age of Global Capitalism. London: Routledge], and ‘ecofeminism’ [d’Eaubonne, Francoise. 1974. Feminism or Death: How the Women's Movement Can Save the Planet. London: Verso, 2022]. Using this important moment to zoom out on environmental issues and concerns, this article also examines changing power dynamics of American-led globalization from Global 1968 to the first year of the 70s. Conceptually, connecting art history to watershed moments and movements recognized across the world and not exclusively connected to one nation-state needs further explication in terms of ecocriticism and global studies for art history. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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